This invention relates generally to improvements in identification appliances such as wristbands and the like for mounting onto a specific person or object, and for carrying information associated with the specific band wearer. More particularly, this invention relates to an improved identification bracelet having a sealable window for overlying and protecting wearer-related information applied to or carried by the bracelet against contact with moisture and the like for an extended period of time, wherein such moisture contact could otherwise interfere with or adversely impact human and/or machine reading of the wearer-related information.
Bracelet-type identification appliances such as wristbands and the like are commonly worn by individual patients in a hospital or other medical facility. The identification bracelet normally carries certain human-readable patient identification information such as patient name, room number, patient identification (ID) number, etc., wherein this identification information can be printed directly onto the bracelet, or otherwise applied to a card, tag or label that is affixed to or suitably carried by the bracelet. In addition, a variety of machine-readable information may be similarly applied to or carried by the bracelet, such as bar code information which may duplicate the human-readable patient identification information but may also include selected patient condition information. In recent years, such identification bracelets have also incorporated radio frequency identification (RFID) circuits having the capacity to receive and store significant patient medical history in addition to patent identification and condition information. Such identification bracelets have also been used in a wide range of non-medical environments.
Moisture contact with the wearer-related information carried by the identification bracelet can interfere with and thereby prevent accurate reading thereof by human or automated means. In this regard, some bracelet designs have incorporated a transparent window element to overlie and thereby provide some protection for wearer-related information visible through the transparent window. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,221,063; 4,285,146; 4,318,234; 4,386,795; and 5,581,924 depict a bracelet wherein a transparent window element cooperates with an underlying band to define a small slotted pocket for slide-fit reception of a card, tag or label having the wearer-related information printed thereon and viewable through the window element. However, many of these bracelet designs provide only limited protection, and, more specifically, are not sealed against water intrusion upon immersion of the bracelet as may occur, for example, during bathing.
Alternative bracelet configurations have been proposed wherein the transparent window element is backed with a transparent, typically pressure-sensitive adhesive layer. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,197,899 and 6,546,656 which depict the transparent window element adhesively positioned over an information-bearing zone or region formed on or carried by an underlying flexible band. The transparent window element is initially adhered at one end to the underlying band and thus comprises a movable flap that can be lifted to expose the information-bearing zone, and further to permit a peel-off film to be removed from the flap before downward displacement into adhered relation with the band in a position overlying the information-bearing zone. Hermetic sealing of the periphery of the information-bearing zone, however, is at best limited to provide minimal protection against water intrusion. In addition, in these bracelet designs, the movable flap is incompatible with convenient and economical manufacturing methods particularly such as producing a plurality of ready-to-use bracelets in a snap-apart or break-apart sheet form. Moreover, the transparent window element in these designs is combined with fastener means for adhesively mounting the bracelet about the wearer's wrist or the like, resulting in a complex bracelet construction with limited inherent variable size adjustment capability.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,740,623 describes another alternative bracelet construction including a tubular band formed from transparent plastic, and defining an internal pocket for slide-fit reception of an information-bearing card, tag or label, with a connector element provided for press-fit reception into the opposite ends of the band to form and retain the band into a closed loop configuration wrapped about a person's wrist or the like. While this bracelet design may provide improved hermetic protection against ingress or moisture or other liquids into contact with the information-bearing card or the like, the tubular band construction does not provide inherent size adjustment capability. In addition, the tubular band construction is also not susceptible to convenient and economical manufacturing methods particularly such as producing a plurality of ready-to-use bracelets in snap-apart or break-apart sheet form.
There exists, therefore, a significant need for further improvements in and to identification bracelets of the type used in a medical facility and the like, particularly wherein a transparent window element is mounted onto an underlying flexible band in a manner conducive to economical manufacture in multi-bracelet sheet form, and further wherein a transparent window element is adapted to overlie and hermetically seal underlying wearer-related information against contact with moisture and the like. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages.